About ToxicTrailers.com

ToxicTrailers.com was launched after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 when the government spent more than $2 billion on FEMA trailers with high levels of formaldehyde that sickened thousands of people. The FEMA trailer tragedy exposed what is a widespread problem in RVs, mobile homes, modular buildings and even conventional buildings that use pressed wood products. Unfortunately, as we approach the tenth anniversary of Katrina, formaldehyde regulations are not being enforced in the U.S., and people's health is at risk. If you are having burning eyes, congestion, sore throat, coughing, breathing difficulties, frequent sinus infections or rashes, and difficulties concentrating, you may have a formaldehyde problem. For questions or to share your story, write 4becky@cox.net.

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

DeVany response to CDC\FEMA coverup of formaldehyde problems

Note: This is a letter from Mary DeVany regarding news stories on www.salon.com, AP, and CBS News (see toxic trailer news links) revealing that CDC and FEMA colluded to coverup the dangers of formaldehyde poisoning from FEMA trailers. DeVany was an expert witness for Sierra Club at Congressional hearings on this problem in the summer of 2007.

Here my editorial in Salon.com published regarding the Salon article regarding the FEMA\CDC coverup of problems with formaldehyde in FEMA trailers:_________________________________________________________

This article is a long time in the coming, and I'm gratified that the collusion between the CDC and FEMA is finally coming to light and getting the notoriety that it deserves.

In my Congressional testimony last July 19, 2007, I had been requested to explain to Congress the health effects of formaldehyde, how formaldehyde got into the temporary housing units, what the various exposure limits of different agencies mean, and to give advice to Congress on follow-up actions to reduce formaldehyde exposures to the residents in these trailers.

I stated before the Federal Agency Oversight Committee, Chaired by Congressman Henry A. Waxman, that the CDC had misapplied the science and toxicology of formaldehyde from its own agency's interpretation published by the ATSDR (Agency for Toxic Substances Disease Registry -- a branch of the CDC).

I have excerpted that section (section 10) of my testimony below.

In July 2006, FEMA developed and implemented an air monitoring and sampling plan to establish and verify methods to reduce the presence of formaldehyde fumes in travel trailers. The sampling was conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the data were analyzed by the ATSDR (Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Register), which is affiliated with theCenters for Disease Control, at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

The results of this study showed high levels of formaldehyde in nearly all of the trailers, whether they were continuously ventilated or were kept cool through air conditioning. Without giving any explanation, although the ATSDR has an exposure limit of 0.008 ppm for exposures of 365 or more days, rather than use this limit when analyzing EPA‚s air sampling of FEMA‚s trailers, the ATSDR arbitrarily chose a limit of 0.3 ppm as their "level of concern" and applied this high level to the results as if it were a safe and applicable exposure limit.

This level is nearly 40 times the ATSDR's limit for people exposed more than 365 days, as the hurricane victims living in travel trailers are, and resulted in a bizarre skewing of the sampling results interpretation. However, even applying this "level of concern," the average sampling results were even higher than this very elevated level.

This misapplication and skewing of scientific results is at best unethical and grossly misrepresents and attempts to minimize the adverse health effects being experienced by thousands of travel trailer residents."

The bigger question is: when will our government stop protecting the temporary housing unit/trailer manufacturers that supplied such a dangerous product?

Warning: RVS and mobile homes may be hazardous to your health!!

Imagine that you have just lost your home in a natural disaster, and are now waiting to get a FEMA trailer for temporary housing. The fact is, you and your family might be better off in a tent or living with friends and relatives, even if it is crowded.

After Hurricane Katrina, FEMA purchased about 102,000 travel trailers at a cost of $2.6 billion to house the victims of the nation’s largest natural disaster. It turns out that the vast majority of these trailers have excessive levels of formaldehyde. See the results of testing done by the CDC that were announced Feb. 29, 2008 at the website http://cdc.gov/nceh/ehhe/trailerstudy/ or just Google CDC formaldehyde FEMA study. This website also has links to information for residents and health care practitioners.

From the very beginning people who received FEMA trailers after Katrina reported experiencing problems such as irritated eyes, breathing problems, bloody noses, headaches, nausea, frequent respiratory infections and skin rashes. We know one family that moved from the FEMA trailer into a storage shed on their property because their daughter threw up every time she spent any time in the trailer. Another man sleeping in his driveway next to his trailer said, “My FEMA trailer is killing me!” One couple experienced such heavy chest congestion combined with nose bleeds that they abandoned their FEMA trailer to sleep in their truck.

The CDC testing confirmed three earlier rounds of testing done by Sierra Club in Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama in 2006 and 2007 with test kits from Advanced Chemical Sensors. Out of 69 tests, 61 were over 0.1 ppm which represents 88 percent of the trailers tested. The tests used 0.1 ppm as the concentration above which health impacts are expected. However, much lower levels are recommended for long-term exposure. The Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry (ATSDR) Minimal Risk Levels are 0.04 ppm for 1-14 days, 0.03 for 14-364 days and 0.008 ppm for 365 or more days exposure. The lowest of the 69 Sierra Club tests was 0.04. The highest test was 0.39.

As you will see by reading the blogs on this page, the formaldehyde problem is not confined to just RVs and mobile homes purchased by FEMA. Manufacturers state that they didn't do anything differently for RVs and mobile homes sold to FEMA than those sold to the general public. People across the country are reporting formaldehyde problems in not just campers and manufactured housing, but regular homes, offices, churches and schools.

For an in-depth look at this issue including how FEMA and the ATSDR tried to coverup the problem rather than respond to a major public health disaster, see the hearing transcript from the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform at http://oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=1413.